Letter to the Editor By: Bill Gaston
Representative Eliot Engel, who faces a primary challenge on June 23rd, has been in Congress for more than 30 years. I believe it is time for a change. In 2020, amidst a global pandemic whose epicenter is in our district, we need a Congressman who will bring energy and structural change to the challenges we face. I am supporting Jamaal Bowman as the best candidate to bring about that transformative change. I encourage you to support his candidacy.
The English poet Matthew Arnold once remarked “genius is mainly an affair of energy.” As an educator of 20 years, and a middle school principal, Jamaal Bowman brings energy, passion and purpose. Whether he’s talking about ending “forever wars,” or reining in the overuse of standardized testing in the classroom, or ridding our democracy of special interest money, he exudes commitment. He also advocates a Green New Deal and Medicare for All.
Progressives have long endorsed these causes; however, when it comes to foreign policy, Congressman Engel’s resume has been anything but progressive. A top recipient of defense industry contributions, Engel has, throughout his career, routinely supported the most bellicose foreign policy prescriptions. The most disastrous, of course, was his full-throated support of the Iraq War Resolution, which ushered in one of the worst, most costly foreign policy fiascoes in American history. He has since apologized for that vote, but his hawkishness continued through the Obama administration when he was one of only a few Democrats to oppose the Iran anti-nuclear agreement. To make matters worse, as the bloody Saudi-led war in Yemen dragged on, Congressman Engel was one of only 16 House Democrats in 2016 to vote against an amendment that would have would have blocked the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, bombs which have killed thousands of civilians, and led millions of Yemenis to the brink of starvation.
Nowhere is Mr. Engel more out of step with the progressive base of the Democratic party than on Israel-Palestine. In public gatherings, he is quick to pay lip service to a 2-state solution. However, for years, he has been silent as the most extreme right wing forces in the state of Israel have perpetuated its harsh occupation and dispossession of Palestinian lands, thus rendering a two state solution impracticable if not impossible. Indeed, Mr. Engel takes pride in his annual ritual attendance at the right-wing AIPAC convention, a gathering which even many Democratic candidates for president in 2020 steered away from this year because of the group’s support of Israel’s illegal settlement policy.
Now serving as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a perch which permits him to act as the most prominent Democratic Party figure for US foreign policy, Mr. Engel has shown no signs of easing up on his neoconservative foreign policy views. As Professor Stephen Zunes has noted, “it was nothing short of a betrayal of the Democratic leadership to turn the [Committee] over to someone so far to the right.” Indeed, his views resemble more closely those of Republicans than the majority of his fellow Democrats.
Jamaal Bowman, by contrast, believes we need a truly progressive foreign policy that is marked by humanitarian values, and diplomacy. He wants to put a stop to the trillions in dollars we waste on senseless overseas conflicts. Unlike Mr. Engel, Mr. Bowman advocates a lasting peace in the Middle East that not only recognizes Israel’s right to exist but also the Palestinian people’s right to self determination, free from land grabs, state-sponsored violence, home demolitions and myriad human rights abuses.
Congressman Engel accepts thousands of dollars in contributions from well connected defense manufacturers such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Bowman’s grass-roots movement is fueled by small individual contributions and donors; he is not beholden to neoconservative –or neoliberal – interest groups.
On June 23rd, I will vote for Jamaal Bowman for Congress (CD-16). If you believe our district deserves renewed energy, progressive purpose, and transformative change, I urge you to cast your vote for Mr. Bowman too.
Bill Gaston is a Democratic Party District Leader in Bronxville.
Gaston said “the views expressed are my own, and do not represent the views of the Bronxville Democratic Committee, which has not endorsed any candidate in the race.”
